1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a method and system for creating a dynamic floating window for stereoscopic contents, and more particularly, to a method and system for automatically creating a dynamic floating window for stereoscopic contents based on feature points.
2. Description of the Related Art
Three-dimensional (3D) stereoscopic imaging is gaining attention in the field of entertainment industries, for example, feature films, cartoon films, game contents, and the like.
Stereoscopic contents are being produced more and more owing to commercial success of 3D stereoscopic imaging, and recently, vigorous progress is being made in 3D remake to convert two-dimensional (2D) contents such as films shot in 2D to 3D stereoscopic contents. With the brisk growth of 3D stereoscopic imaging, many display device manufacturers are introducing new products based on augmented stereoscopic technologies.
Also, many camera rigs and software are being released to support the convenience of 3D content creation.
However, a 3D stereoscopic image may often cause visual discomfort to an audience. In a 3D stereoscopic image, visual discomfort of an audience is mainly induced by imperfectness of the 3D stereoscopic image. As a 3D stereoscopic image causes visual discomfort more frequently, the public interest in a 3D stereoscopic image becomes lower, and consequently, there may be benefits over the whole 3D stereoscopic imaging industry.
In particular, a stereoscopic window violation occurs when an object having a negative disparity value is partially occluded by the opposing edges of a screen, causing extreme visual fatigue to an audience.
FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a concept of a window violation.
In FIG. 1, both occlusion and stereopsis is displayed at a left edge of a screen. Stereopsis is implemented by a pair of stereoscopic images, and occlusion occurs when a zone represented in one of the pair of stereoscopic images is invisible in the other image.
That is, for a certain region in a pair of stereoscopic images, an audience can sense an image for stereopsis from one image, but cannot sense the image for stereopsis from the other image due to the absence of the corresponding image in the other image.
A conflict of occlusion and stereopsis is referred to as a window violation effect or a paradoxical stereo window, and may cause visual fatigue to an audience. In other words, a window violation effect is a phenomenon in which an audience feels uncomfortable in a situation of viewing due to a visual error in content perception associated with occlusion information more powerful than disparity information when an object having a negative disparity value (an object appearing in front of a screen) intersects the edge of a 2D screen.
FIG. 2 illustrates a concept of a conventional floating window for removing a window violation.
In FIG. 2, (a) illustrates a window violation in a stereoscopic image, that is, a reason that a conflict of occlusion and stereopsis occurs, and (b) illustrates a method of removing an area in which a conflict of occlusion and stereopsis occurs, by applying a floating window.
The floating window is represented as a black mask area in (b) of FIG. 2. The floating window is added to a right frame edge of a right image and a left frame edge of a left image among a pair of stereoscopic images.
The floating window may help display a floating window image appearing in front of a screen viewed from each of a left camera and a right camera. This floating window technique may greatly reduce visual fatigue even though it produces a result that certain areas are removed from a stereoscopic image.
A dynamic floating window is a technique of dynamically creating a floating window and suggests an effective solution to a window violation, however a conventional dynamic floating window has a limitation in that its use is restricted to a case in which information of a left camera and a right camera is explicit like 3D animation.